French basketball superstar Zachary Lisacher just declared for the 2024 NBA Draft, and all signs point to him being the No. 1 overall pick, according to ESPN.
if he goes get off the board immediatelyThis will be the second year in a row that a French player will be selected first, following the San Antonio Spurs selecting French prodigy Victor Wembaneyama with the first pick in last year’s draft.
It’s a continuation of a troubling trend for American basketball, as more and more of the league’s star players come from overseas.
Since 2011, five of the first overall picks in the NBA Draft have been foreign-born. Kyrie Irving (2011) and Ben Simmons (2016) were born in Australia. Anthony Bennett (2013) and Andrew Wiggins (2014) are Canadian. And Wenby is of course from France. But this trend doesn’t stop at the first pick. The game’s best players are increasingly coming from all over the world.
The top three MVP votes for the 2022-2023 season are all from other countries. Winner Joel Embiid is from Cameroon. Runner-up Nikola Jokic is from Serbia. The third-place vote-getter, Giannis Antetokounmpo, is from Greece.
Other superstars like 2023-2024 leading scorer Luka Doncic are also from overseas. Rudy Gobert, Kristaps Porzingis, Domantas Sabonis…all from Europe.
The NBA has always been a global game compared to other North American sporting competitions. Players like Vlade Divac, Yao Ming and Dirk Nowitzki proudly represented their country on the world stage in America. However, they were never the center of the sport. The best players were always Americans. Jordan, LeBron, Durant, Kobe (who grew up in Italy but attended Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia). The guys who put their asses in seats were always born and raised in good old America, his A. However, the situation is changing rapidly.
Does America still boast a great talent pool? no doubt. The recently revealed roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics includes many familiar (albeit aging) stars, including James, Durant and Stephen Curry. And oddsmakers acknowledge that fact, marking them as favorites to win gold, with DraftKings pegging them at -500 to potentially win it all. according to on the cover. (Related: NBA center banned for life after allegedly betting on games)
But where America’s athletic superiority was once so evident, they double Considering the total points of their opponents, there is no longer any presumption that they will win the gold medal.last year’s fiba basketball world cupThe United States lost to Canada in the bronze medal match and did not even finish in the top three.
The future is bright for many of the league’s up-and-coming American stars.Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton, and Jayson Tatum all graced the Stars and Stripes in spectacular fashion in 2023-2024, but their stat sheets and Number of jerseys sold It is increasingly dominated by foreign-born stars.
Is this the end of American sports dominance? It might not be this year or next, but if current trends continue, American sports stars could become a minority in their home country.
